Mobile app should check for downloaded data before streaming it

[misterfrumble]

It seems that current behavior (as confirmed in a support chat) is that if your device is online it will stream songs even if that song is already downloaded to the device. The only way to make the app not use data for songs already downloaded is to dig into the settings and turn on "offline mode"

Because of this bonkers and frankly aggressive to the user decision my data usage has been crazy high and cost me money until I figured out what was up.

I propose a very simple algorithm to address this:
if songAlreadyDownloaded {

    playDownloadedSong()

} else {

     streamSong()

}

It's just so crazy it might work!

[PublishYouOne]

The idea you mention is a cool feature in my book. Spotify could use the feature to sell more subscriptions. I think it would work perfectly in a marketing campaign. I know it was a marketing topic a few years ago but repeating the topic incorporating the feature you mentioned above… I am a believer …

[tunedIN]

Hi misterfrumble

Hi PublishYouOne

With hi-res streaming & downloading now on the menu, it's worth considering the offline option.

You're now eating 1 gb of data every 68 minutes, compared to over 7 hours before. A barrier to hi-res with a limited data plan. 

So for the best quality on the move. Download your favorite playlist. Play it in offline mode. Use BT hardware capable of hi-res codecs, or go wired. 

Advantages of downloading and using offline mode. 

• Hi res playback on the move
• No data is being used 
• Unaffected by signal strength variations
• Unaffected when switching between 4G & 5G

Because my main playlist evolves. I will be clearing downloads and re-downloding on a regular basis to prevent storage issues.

Offline mode is my new friend. Please click  'Accept as Solution', if you have a new friend too. 

[OGBubbyJohnson]

I'm totally lost & confused 

[tunedIN]

Hi OGBubbyJohnson

The intitial concern is Spotify chewing up data, while some tracks have been downloaded. misterfrumble suggests playing from stored downloads if available while streamings song that aren't downloaded. 

I have proposed downloading a favorite playlist and using the offline mode so no data is being used. With the additional benefits listed above. 

With Spotify now streaming in hi-res, mobile streaming at the highest quality setting uses a huge amount of data. What I have discovered since my first post. That while we can access hi-res (24 bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files) for streaming. Downloads at the moment are still at the previous highest setting (320kbs via Ogg Vorbis). My 5.5 hour playlist has a download size or 803MB whereas a FLAC file of that size would use approx 3.5GB of storage. 

I presume that Hi-Res streaming is the first stage of the roll-out and Hi-Res downloads will follow. Hopefully not a 5 year wait like we had, between being told we will get hi-res streaming, and actually getting it. 

[misterfrumble]

@tunedIN: Why should I have to dig in to settings and turn on offline mode to save data? The app should be smart enough to detect that a song is downloaded and use THAT. Heck, it could be a setting like "use downloaded data if available"!

[AntoninaUkr]

+1

[autumncz]

I'm having troubles with the exact opposite of what you just described! I have a bunch of songs downloaded on my android phone in low quality (small storage). The app seems to be prefering to play the downloaded low quality song over streaming the best quality (lossless setting) online. I wonder if there is a way to fix this apart from deleting my downloaded low quality songs..

[PfabyGo]

I totally agree. Like I sometimes wanna stream my downloaded songs while viewing the lyrics. And sometimes I wanna do some exploring while I play my downloaded songs, I don't songs streaming from the cloud. Even updating a playlist should ask for your consent to download or not (Don't know if this has to be raised as a separate issue haha)

[MattSuda]

@misterfrumble @PfabyGo @autumncz @AntoninaUkr

Hey folks, it seems that there is some confusion here.

The Spotify app prioritizes downloads and previously cached files over streaming.

That means if a song has recently been played (cached) or is downloaded, it will load faster and play the local songs instead of streaming from the Spotify servers. Data will still be used for other features in the app (unless in offline mode) but the data used will be less.

There is a similar idea here for those that want Lossless quality to be streamed and prioritized over the quality of the downloads.

[MattSuda]

@autumncz

Downloaded songs will be played in the quality that they were originally downloaded in, even if you are currently streaming on a WiFi connection. If you want your downloaded songs (and Offline Backup) to play in Lossless quality, you will need to delete them first and then re-download them. Right now there is no other solution for this.